Questions are being asked about voting rights for Swiss living abroad

03/20/2019
Politics
Jürg Müller

Anyone who has a Swiss passport and lives abroad may vote and participate in elections – even standing for a seat in parliament. However, in Switzerland itself there are critical voices being raised against the expanded political rights of the “Fifth Switzerland”.

Swiss living abroad had to wait exactly 167 years from the founding of the federal state in 1848 until one of their own was first elected to the National Council. It finally happened in 2015. The prominent ex-diplomat Tim Guldimann (SP), resident in Berlin, entered parliament as the first “true” Swiss Abroad. There is a reason for the weak representation of the “Fifth Switzerland” in parliament. In contrast to Guldimann, the majority of the candidates are relatively unknown both at home and abroad. Despite this obstacle, interest in an elected role is growing. Only three Swiss citizens living abroad stood for election in 1995. In 2015, the number had grown to 56. Interest in elections and voting in the homeland is also increasing slightly. In 2018, the number of registered voters abroad rose from 172,000 to 174,000 out of a total number of 752,000 Swiss expatriates.

Problems after the election

Once an expatriate is duly elected to the National Council, certain problems need to be overcome. These begin with Article 10 of the Parliament Act: “Assembly members are obliged to attend the meetings of the councils and committees”. That means live and in person. No one is allowed to participate in a parliamentary debate or committee meeting via Skype, not even if they live in Australia. Travel costs begin to pile up – and the government is left footing the bill. Travel to Bern is paid for every member of the National Council regardless of where they live, even if it means they must make the trip from South America. The journey to the Swiss border is charged to the government; all members of parliament are given a Swiss GA travelcard for travel within Switzerland.

There is still another problem, however, for those who want to fulfil a Swiss parliamentary role from abroad. It is not easy to live in one country and engage in politics in another. Tim Guldimann summed up the dilemma nicely: “A tram in Zurich is not the same as the U-Bahn in Berlin.” He said that as a Swiss Abroad, he only managed to be present in his Zurich constituency for limited periods. As a result, he stood down just two years after his election in 2015.

Permanent seats for Swiss living abroad?

Nevertheless, efforts are continually being made to ensure the presence of the “Fifth Switzerland” in parliament on an institutional level. Around ten years ago two members of parliament made an unsuccessful proposal to create guaranteed seats for Swiss expatriates in the National Council and the Council of States. This approach is not common across Europe; only France, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Romania have permanent seats in parliament reserved for the diaspora.

The issue of whether Switzerland should reserve a guaranteed number of seats in parliament for its citizens living abroad will arise again eventually. According to Ariane Rustichelli, director of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), a working group from the Council of the Swiss Abroad is currently investigating how to go about that. During the course of 2019, a final report with corresponding recommendations should be available.

Politicians want to restrict voting rights of Swiss Abroad

In Swiss politics, however, there are also sporadic efforts being made to restrict rather than extend the right to vote and stand for election for Swiss citizens living abroad. In an interview with swissinfo, FDP member of the Council of States Andrea Caroni said that he finds it: “strange that people who have never lived in Switzerland and are not planning on returning have the right to vote and stand for election here while completely integrated foreigners in Switzerland are not given the right to vote on issues that affect them directly”. SVP National Council member Peter Keller, on the other hand, is critical of the privileges of dual citizens and feels they should decide where and how they will exercise their right to vote. “This applies to Swiss with dual citizenship who have residence here but also to Swiss expatriates with two passports. They should also only have one right to vote,” argued Keller during an interpellation last year.

The question of dual citizenship is also being considered by the Federal Commission on Migration (FCM), which pointed out in a study from December 2018 that almost exactly three-quarters of Swiss citizens living abroad also possess a second citizenship. “From a democratic-political perspective, it appears particularly problematic that recognition of dual citizenship leads to growing numbers of people who are formally citizens of a country yet have no other or hardly any other relationship to that country apart from citizenship. This problem is especially prevalent in Switzerland because Swiss expatriates usually always maintain full voting rights. It would therefore be appropriate to discuss how long Swiss citizenship can be conferred on following generations of Swiss Abroad.”

As one of the study authors emphasised when talking to various media outlets, this should not mean that Swiss expatriates would have their citizenship revoked. However, the feeling is that a discussion should be held regarding the right to vote and stand for election. Voting rights are appropriate for first-generation Swiss living abroad. By the third generation at the latest, however, there “is hardly any solid argument for ensuring the right to vote and stand for election”. In extreme cases, this population group could even decide a referendum in Switzerland without ever having lived in the country.

Director of OSA defends rights

OSA director Ariane Rustichelli vehemently rejects any restriction of political rights. In her opinion, time limits would strip a segment of the Swiss population of their rights. “In effect, this would be equal to creating different classes of citizens.” Furthermore, a large number of ballot proposals are also relevant for Swiss expatriates, regardless of the length of their stay abroad, e.g. occupational benefit issues, international conventions, and relationships with the EU. Finally, she comments that the majority of the 752,000 Swiss Abroad live in a European country – more than 482,000 of them – and many return to Switzerland regularly. In addition, the outside perspective of the Swiss living abroad is an asset for Switzerland, comments Rustichelli.

Switzerland is not alone in its stance on voting rights. On the contrary, a report on this topic by the Federal Council in 2016 indicated that the majority of European states “do not have specific criteria for safeguarding political rights for citizens living abroad”. In other words, the same criteria apply as for voters at home. However, Germany, Sweden and the UK make their expatriates’ right to vote conditional on additional criteria. In Sweden, expatriates are given voting rights only if they had a residence in their native country at some point. In the UK, citizens living abroad must have been registered as a voter in their home constituency in the UK within the past 15 years. As for Germany, it requires expatriates to complete a minimum three-month stay in Germany after they reach 14 years of age, and within the past 25 years.

Comments (52)

Therese Saladin-Davies, Emu Plains NSW, Australia at 21.03.2019

I who whole heartedly agree with Andrea Caroni "it is strange that people who have never lived in Switzerland and are not planning on returning have the right to vote and stand for election here while completely integrated foreigners in Switzerland are not given the right to vote on issues that affect them directly”. Swiss 'Dual Citizen' should not be able to vote when they live somewhere and vote in that new country also if they became naturalized in that country. I am in Australia since 1970 and this is my permanent home, hence I believe I have no right to tell Swiss people how to live their lifes.

I have been living in Australia for 47 years now and have visited Switzerland only four times in all those years. I have become estranged from my country of birth and have never considered exercising my right to vote in Switzerland, especially after accepting Australian citizenship and being able to vote for the first time (as a woman) in a Federal election, in my new home country.

The last time I visited Switzerland was in 2005 and I felt like a stranger, a tourist, who fumbled with money I didn't recognize anymore, didn't realize (or too slow) that "Halbtax" didn't have anything to do with "Steuern", that "police" didn't have anything to do with "Polizei" but an insurance policy, almost got lost in the town I grew up in, etc. I never contributed anything to AHV or, on an apprentice wage, not much, and do not receive, nor expect, any support from Switzerland. I left as a young person and returned as an oldie visitor.

When it gets to that stage it is really high time to accept that 'we' are not really Swiss anymore and should not have the right to meddle in Swiss politics. The reason I am writing in English? Because it comes easier to me. Though, I think my spoken Swiss language is still pretty good and, funnily enough, much of it is that of a 20 year old from the late sixties because I have never really learnt Swiss adult speak.

I am a Swiss Citizen living in Canada. I am Swiss because my Dad was born in Switzerland and grew up there but he then moved to Canada and so I was born here. I am involved in the political process in Canada but have to say it never occurred to me to vote in a country I have never lived in and only visited. While I don't relish the idea of taking away rights, I do think that there should be some requirements met for a Swiss that lives abroad in order to vote or run for office. If you don't live in the country how would you know the issues, what is resonating with the people or like the article stated, attend your parliamentary duties? I would not like people not living in Canada to vote in Canada for the same reasons. Perhaps a happy medium could be met. If you were born in Switzerland and grew up there you can vote even if you move abroad, going on the premise that you know the country. If you were not born there but wish to engage in politics then you are required to live there for a certain amount of time before you have the right to vote. And if you run for and are elected to office you need to live in the country (prior to and during your term in office). Unnecessary spending by governments around the world needs to stop. You are either committed to your position or not. I am proud to say I am Swiss even though I never lived there. It is a beautiful country with a great culture. We all want to know our heritage and I am glad I am able to hold a Swiss passport but the people impacted by the voting are the ones that should have a say.

It makes sense to allow Swiss abroad to vote only if they have lived or visited Switzerland in their lifetime. I’m a Swiss living abroad and meet many 2/3 rd generation Swiss who are clueless about Switzerland today or in the past 20-30 years as they have never lived in CH or visited CH in their life time. I moved out of CH 20 yrs ago, but keep my connection by making sure I visit every 2/3 yrs to keep in touch with what’s happening there. Plus I love visiting the beautiful mountains and villages there.

I left Switzerland 25 years ago (I am 50 today) and have lived in several countries ever since. I currently live in the US. In spite of having been away for a long time, I feel quite strongly about voting in Switzerland. Although I don't know if I will ever return to live in Switzerland, I remain interested in taking part of the democratic process. When I tell my friends and colleagues that I vote over a dozen times a year on all sorts of topics, they tend to be in awe. This is part of what makes Switzerland great, and by voting regularly, one gets the opportunity to remain well aware of the issues (unlike in countries where you only elect someone every few years).

My older daughter turned 18 last year, and while she has never lived in Switzerland, she is thrilled to vote. It's a great opportunity for her and I to discuss about relevant political choices in Switzerland and for her to understand her country better.

This is a difficult issue, and I understand and accept some of the arguments made by those suggesting Swiss citizens who have never lived in Switzerland should not be allowed to vote. However, it would in my opinion set a dangerous precedent (as mentioned by one of the persons in the article): there would be first and second class Swiss citizens. For those with dual nationality, it could be argued that voting rights could be subject to specific conditions.

The Swiss abroad voting policy needs to be updated. It needs to be nuanced so it's not regressive i.e.) does not discourage Swiss from taking jobs overseas. Gradations of eligibility could go a long way to eliminating a sense of unfairness both within and without Switzerland.

1. A person should have been born in Switzerland, have lived there at least 5 years and still speak one of its languages well. Helpful would be evidence of continued interest by frequent visits say, every 1-4 years.

2. If you're a citizen without the above criteria but you pay taxes in Switzerland -- you should be allowed to vote.

3. If you're # 1 and hold a dual passport, you should not be allowed to vote. CH cannot tell whose interests you're voting for.

4. If you're #2 and hold a dual passport, you should be allowed to vote because taxes are a proxy for loyalty to and continuing personal interest in Swiss affairs.

5. Those who were born in CH but didn't live there 5 years, have lived somewhere else all this time, probably don't speak any of the languages well, should not be allowed to vote-- even if they follow political events and return often to see relatives. I would apply this criterion to myself even though I speak French and Italian relatively well.

6. Those who were not born in CH but became citizens through other means, have another citizenship, vote elsewhere and probably don't speak the languages well should not be allowed to vote.

7. It's an insult to Switzerland to imply that it creates 2nd class citizens by regulating voting -- especially by those who vote elsewhere. I find it to be an incredible privilege to retain an expired Swiss passport which can be used to prove my citizenship. This means that, at any time, I could return and re-register and have my full citizenship plus voting rights restored. And what *that* means is that voting rights are not permanently taken away. For those who don't qualify to vote from overseas, they're just mothballed until you return.

8. Part of the revised Swiss Government policy on voting should be that such reversibility is easily obtained, without a lot of red tape, once a citizen returns home.

9. Running for office while abroad is absurd and should be out of the question. As the representative living in Berlin found out. He couldn't do a decent job of representing his constituency from long distance.

10. Although I agree with him, I have no relation to Peter Keller, SVP

I am Jolyon Kay. I have been Swiss for only a year since my mother was Suissesse. I lived in Switzerland for three years, but I was taught by my grandfather of the importance of voting in Switzerland. Having acquired that right I should be dismayed to lose it. I think the concept of two classes of Swiss apalling.

Adding my opinion as 92 years' old, with 62 years status as "Auslandschweizer" in Ghana (Westafrica) where I am on record as founder of the Swiss Society , followed as co-founder of the Swiss School in Accra in the early 1960's. I have all my time in Ghana retained exclusive Swiss citizenship and as such paid Swiss taxes where due and supported Swiss charities. So let the authorities in Switzerland consider their approaches to those of us who have made and are continuing to make substantial contributions to Switzerland's current ranking status in economic and political world affairs.

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